Witnesses: Man tried but failed to escape falling beam

Published: Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 12:23 a.m.

An Orlando man crushed to death by a 33-foot-long, 1,750-pound metal beam at an Ocala work site Friday morning tried to escape from being hit by the falling material but was unsuccessful, according to witnesses at the scene.

Three employees for Orlando-based Metal-Bilt Construction LLC, a subcontractor for the job that also employed the victim, Victor Lizarraga, told Ocala police Officer Keith Jarvis about what they witnessed and how they tried to help the 33-year-old.

David Janovich, a superintendent for the company, told Jarvis that Metal-Bilt had been subcontracted to complete an expansion at National Parts Depot, 900 S.W. 38th Ave., where the accident occurred.

Jesus Lizarraga, the victim's cousin, told the officer he was standing in front of the foreman's forklift when he heard the beam falling.

He said when he looked over, he saw his cousin attempting to get away, but "the beam fell on him," the report noted.

He said they rushed to get a forklift to lift the beam off Lizarraga.

However, it was too late.

Jesus Lizarraga said no one was near the beam at the time of the accident.

A second witness, Martin Munoz-Mendez, said he saw the victim securing a cable to the bottom of another beam directly west of the building. Munoz-Mendez said that while he was bent down working on the ground, he heard the beam falling, and he started running toward the building. Munoz-Mendez said Lizarraga also tried to run but the beam fell on him. He, too, said no one was operating any equipment around the beam when it fell.

The third witness, Francisco Campos, told the officer he was in a forklift when he saw the beam falling and Lizarraga trying to escape. He said they were able to remove the beam from on top of Lizarraga and check on him.

When Ocala Fire Rescue paramedics arrived on scene, witnesses told police Lizarraga was doubled over, and his face was between his legs.

Lizarraga was pronounced dead at 8:50 a.m.

Rescue personnel had been notified of the accident three minutes earlier.

Jarvis, in his report, noted when officers went to the site, they noticed a forklift carrying a beam.

The officer said he was later told that the beam on the forklift was the one that fell on top of Lizarraga.

Karen Zavala, 21, told the Star-Banner that Victor Lizarraga, her stepfather, was a "very nice, humble person who loved fishing."

Zavala said Lizarraga came to the U.S. from Mexico when he was a teenager, and had been married to her mother for nine years.

She said her mother and stepfather had been together for 11 years, and had two children, a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl.

"She's shocked, surprised and devastated and cannot believe this is happening," Zavala said of her mother.

Zavala said her stepfather has worked in construction for more than a decade.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is looking into the incident.

OSHA's Web site shows that 5,071 people died on the job in 2008.

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